Reaching The Summit
by blunaowl
Summary: Jack's MIA, presumed dead and after managing to convince her 'babysitters' she's okay, Sam proves she's suffering from the loss of her husband a little more than she let on. S/J, obviously. It's my first ever fanfic. Go easy!
1. Can't See The Summit For the Clouds

A/N: Y halo thar. This is my first ever fanfic, but not my first dabble with words. I lost interest in Stargate for a little while after the show finished, but fanfic had rekindled my lil' fire for SG1. This story's been bugging me for a couple of days, and I hope that it'll keep bugging me until it's finished. This has been checked for spellink and propar grammers but nothing more. Reviews are more than welcome, but forgive me if I get lost on the way to sending you a reply. :D Enjoy!

* * *

The pain was blinding. The numbness afforded her from that night's hard liquor had been replaced by adrenaline sharpening her senses to every single cut, scrape and broken bone she'd gotten from her impromptu flight into the ditch by the side of the road. This wasn't what she'd had in mind when she'd left the house to clear her head.

Trying to ignore the yells of pain from her body, she slowly opened her eyes, only to see the same level of darkness she'd seen with them shut. A few blinks later, and a large tree to her right slowly came into focus, followed by another. She looked as far right as she could without moving her head and was greeted with more trees. She chuckled at the irony of the view and instantly regretted it. Pain shot down every limb and she shut her eyes tight, trying to push it aside. She didn't need to focus on pain right now; she needed to get help.

Opening her eyes again she was grateful for the lack of greenery to her left. Past the mud and weeds she'd gouged out of the hill on her tumble down, there was a distinct change in texture. She'd found her first destination: the road.

Now came the arduous and painful process of getting there. Starting with the basics, she tried wiggling fingers and toes. With that success, she aimed higher, first trying to move her arms. Pain exploded in her right shoulder as she did so, causing her to yelp. She took a small amount of comfort that her left arm was relatively pain free, and moved to her lower limbs. She slowly tried to lift her left knee, hoping to repeat her left arm's success and felt nothing. One down, she lifted up her right knee and soon realised that she definitely landed hard on her right side. With a grunt of pain she let her right leg fall back to the muddy ground and tried to lift her head.

The pain she'd felt in her body was nothing compared to that in her head and neck. She tried not to let it fall as heavily as her leg, but it didn't seem to fall at all. To her relief, she realised her helmet hadn't flown off during her flight. Slowly, she unbuckled the helmet with her left hand, and tried to pull it off. It caused her shoulder and neck to scream with pain, with her throat soon following suit, but she was grateful when she managed to push the helmet away. She took a few moments to calm her breathing and focus her thoughts and then pushed herself to her side, falling the rest of the way onto her front. Catching her breath again, she let her head rest on the cool muddy ground.

Step by step, or rather drag by drag, she began to pull herself up the bank with her good arm, pushing herself further with her left leg. The small hill she had seen from her starting position had turned into a mountain without a summit. During a break in her climb, she turned the mounting levels of pain into a determination to reach the top she knew was there. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, she slowly but surely dragged herself to the top of her mountain and upon reaching the cold concrete, collapsed in pain and relief.

* * *

She opened her bleary eyes and pondered for a few moments why her head was so cold. Lifting it slightly, she stared down at the flat, grey surface, now slightly spotted with red. She lifted a hand to her head and it came away the same colour. 'No more falling asleep,' she ordered herself, looking away from the road.

Everything seemed a little lighter this time, even the trees she had barely been able to see earlier. Realising how long she must've been unconscious, she pulled herself up to a slightly seated position on the bank, taking in the more detailed surroundings.

Looking back down at her hands, she saw blood smeared over her fingers. She wiped them on the grass at her side and saw massive holes gouged out of the bank. She followed the smaller ones to where she had found herself earlier, and the larger ones to an unnaturally jagged pile a few hundred feet away. She had clearly been flung further than her transportation, and looking at the wreckage, she was glad she'd not been mangled with it. She looked away with a slight shudder at what could've been, and focused on her current situation. Having surveyed her surroundings, she surveyed herself. Her right arm was looking a little too pale for her liking, and her right leg was sitting at a bizarre angle, her tight jeans doing nothing to conceal the mess that lay beneath them. She looked at her other side and saw a few scrapes, nothing more. She cast a quick glance at her torso and ripped leather jacket, and didn't want to know what might be going on internally. Years of experience brought up lists of injuries she could've sustained, and those same years pushed them aside. She couldn't do much about them right now.

Was she could do, she realised, was try to sort out her arm and leg. There was no way she could set the leg break herself, but she could at the very least stem the bleeding that seeped through her jeans. She went to take off her jacket to rip the shreds off for crude bandages, and only managed to move her arms a small way before dropping them down in pain again. She'd have to sort her other injury first. She gently poked and prodded her left arm to find out just how badly it was damaged. The pain told her it was broken. But the feel of it told her it was a clean break. Using her good arm, she tried as carefully as she could to tear of a strip of leather jacket, hissing in pain when the weakened material gave way and snapped off, her arm flying out with the force. Making sure there was enough material to tie around her arm, she used both hands to tie a loose knot in the leather, making a loop, then pulling it like an armband up to the break, pulling it tighter with her hand and her teeth. The extra support was noticeable almost immediately, but using her mouth as a clamp hadn't helped relieve her headache any.

Now for her leg. She looked down at her jacket again and found one more strip that looked big enough to encompass her injured limb. With the same amount of force and the same amount of pain from the snap of the leather, she ripped off her pseudo bandage. She rolled up as much of the leg of her jeans as possible, the shredded material coming together as an extra bit of padding on either side of the protruding bone. She balanced the material in place and wrapped her leather bandage around it, wincing in pain as she was forced to use her injured arm to reach the knot. When she was done, she leaned back on her good arm, waiting for the pain to subside.


	2. Stubborn

_She stared at the living room ceiling. She'd looked everywhere else and couldn't take the memories the rest of the room held. After a few minutes, even the blank white canvas of the ceiling reminded her of sleepy evenings spent dozing on his lap. Shutting her eyes, she swallowed hard. She couldn't stand it any longer. As much as she didn't want to forget, she had to get out of there. To where, she didn't care but she had to clear her head. She sat up, opened her eyes and looked directly out of the room into the hall. Three options: she could for a walk, a drive or a ride. A walk was too slow. Too much time to think. A drive was fast enough, but going from cooped up in one cold empty box to another cold empty box was too much. A ride. That was it. Wind beating her face, drying those pesky tears, and fast to boot._

_A little unsteadily she walked over to the corridor, grabbed her jacket and walked to the garage. Only because it was on the seat did she put her helmet on. She waited impatiently for the door to open and pushed her bike outside before jumping on it and speeding off, the sound of the engine punctuating the silent night._

She looked around her feet, the adrenaline beginning to wear off. It was nice not too feel some of the pain as a result, but she knew she had to get moving before she fell asleep again. She saw a long stick to her left, thick enough to support her weight. She slowly edged herself along the road to it and after fumbling to get it further up the bank to her, dug it into the ground and tried to heave herself up. It took more than one attempt, and her annoyance at that finally gave her the strength to get up and onto her feet. She swayed slightly, her head complaining at the sudden change in altitude. Holding the stick firmly, she waited for the world to stop spinning and then looked up and down the winding road she could finally see properly.

Both ends of the road seemed to bend sharply before becoming hidden by trees. She only just saw the skidmarks in the dim light. At least she knew which direction she had come from. Now she had to figure out which direction she should go in. If she headed back, it could be days before she ended up back in Colorado Springs, surrounded by all those memories she'd been trying to run from, provided she made it that far anyway. If she headed towards her original destination she could end up in another town, or at least find a road sign without having to back-track. Either way, the pain in her head and the drowzy feeling told her she had to start moving soon. She started moving in the direction she'd been going already, hopeful of finding the next town along.

She still had to get out of there.


	3. Search And Rescue

A/N: Hey everyone. Thanks to those who have reviewed and put forward suggestions and tips since the last update. I added a little bit more to the previous chapter, and I don't think I'll be able to add too much more for a few days now my weekend's over. I'll try to keep the next chapters at this kind of length from now on, if not a lil' longer. Enjoy!

* * *

She much preferred waking up in a warm bed to a cold, damp and muddy ditch. She pushed herself up slightly and glanced around. Daylight had arrived, and she easily saw the road she had slid from. Groaning, she slowly made the journey back to the road again, but her concussion and the ache of stiff muscles made it difficult to focus. She was annoyed at herself from disobeying her own order, and used that annoyance to push herself a little faster back to the top of the bank, stick in tow. She looked to the road behind her, hoping to see if there was any sign of how far she'd come, but found none. She turned around and carried onwards.

* * *

"And Janet doesn't know anything either?" Daniel pulled away from the pavement and started driving to all the spots they thought Sam might head.

Teal'c remained outwardly stoic, but there was a clear note of concern in his voice. "She does not. However she has made General Hammond aware of the situation, in the event Major O'Neill returns to the SGC, and will be searching as we are."

Daniel sighed. "Well she's not at home, not at the SGC... I had a quick drive round the park before coming to pick you up and she wasn't there. There're only a few other places I can think of that she'd head to. After that... we can either wait to see if she turns up or send out some more people to search for her."

"I believe the most prudent course of action would be to send more parties to search for her. She may find it an intrusion, if indeed she did leave to seek solitude, but she may not readily return on her own so soon if left alone."

"I don't know... in either case, I hope she's alright. She can't have been in the best of states when she left, with the garage door open and the house there for anyone to walk into..."

* * *

Slowly making her way down the road with her makeshift crutch, Sam was back to milling things over in her head. She had hoped to avoid thinking about anything whilst out in the middle of nowhere, but now she was running the same few questions over in her head. How much further did she have to walk to get help? Why on Earth were there no other cars travelling this godforsaken road? And what was she thinking taking that bend at such high speed? No wonder she went flying.

She was in the middle of her train of thought when she saw what she'd been longing for: a road sign. She quickened her pace to reach it and read the other side.

It was just what she'd feared. She was further from Springs, but the distance to the next town was greater still. She slumped against the sign pole and rolled her eyes at the whole damned situation. Now there was another choice to make. She could head back the way she'd come to Springs, or head a little further afield, to see if there were a gas station on the way she could stop at for help. She looked down in the direction she'd been headed for any sign shaped glimmers of hope and saw nothing. She slid down the sign pole, exhaustion setting in, and the pain in her leg and arm taking its toll. She closed her eyes briefly, just to rest them she told herself. But she knew in the back of her mind that now closed, they wouldn't be open for a while.

She didn't even register the sound of a car passing her, then reversing back down the road towards her again. Nor did she hear the calls of the two parents as they got out, cautious at first, then becoming louder and a little more panicked as they came closer. What she did register was the pain that shot down her arm when her shoulder was shaken for a response. With a wince and a moan she opened her eyes, and caught those of a worried and slightly scared middle aged woman with her hand hovering above Sam's right shoulder. The woman cast a glance over her shoulder at a man roughly the same age, maybe a bit older who was talking to someone on the phone. He caught the woman's gaze, then Sam's, and went back to the phone. Sam shifted her gaze over to the car, and saw a small boy, no older than about 7 or 8 she figured, with his head poked through the back seats, obviously trying to see what was going on. She heard someone talking to her, and realised the woman in front of her was the source. She brought her gaze back over to her and tried to focus on what she was saying.

"... you hear me? Are you alright? How long've you been out here?"

"Dunno.." her throat felt like she'd swallowed some sandpaper and washed it down with glass, and didn't sound much better either. "A few hours..."

"Well don't worry," the woman gently patted her other arm, not wanting to cause Sam any more pain. "We've called for an ambulance. They'll come get you, get you fixed up good as new." Her face broke into a warm smile that Sam couldn't help but return.


	4. Falling Behind

_He was falling behind. He didn't like falling behind. He was kicking himself for spending so much time in the gym a few days previously. He could see Sam rolling her eyes, and hear Janet saying 'I told you so.' and feel his knees protesting for the next week at having to have run so fast. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to put the gate _there._ Why not somewhere closer to the town? Why did all these people love commuting so much?_

_He could see the gate coming up, Teal'c running ahead then stopping and turning round to fire a few well placed shots before running on. Daniel was sprinting towards the DHD, so used to being nominated to dial the gate it was second nature. Sam was a little behind them both, firing as she ran, trying not to stumble over the masses of greenery everywhere. And that was another thing. Why was it when they needed to run a great distance at great speed there were always all these-_

_He didn't manage to complete his thought as one of those soon-to-be-complained-about obstacles tripped him up. It didn't take long for his knees to do the complaining for him. He started to pick himself up, Teal'c close by, midway through one of his shoot and run routines. All of a sudden, he heard Teal'c yell his name. He wasn't _that_ far away, surely? He then felt a small trickle run down the inside of his t-shirt, a warm and wet patch starting to form halfway up his back, and he realised what Teal'c must've seen. He kept trying to pick himself up, he'd be damned if he was going to break _that_ rule. But he was falling behind, far faster now. He tried to keep going, but his chest felt tight as he stumbled. His back was burning and his legs were starting to tingle. He looked ahead, trying to see how far he had left to go._

_Everything started to slow down slightly, the slow loss of blood taking its toll. He saw Teal'c trying to run towards him, but a barrage of energy blasts kept him at bay. They increased in frequency and intensity, and Teal'c was forced further from him. He saw the whoosh of the gate opening, and Daniel run up to the open wormhole, almost breaking his GDO whilst transmitting the code. Then he caught Sam's gaze while she was turning to cover Daniel. He caught the wide eyed look of horror as she realised what had happened. He saw Teal'c grab her and nearly drag her through the gate as he ran past her, pushing Daniel on the way. And then he saw nothing but blackness as one of their pursuers caught up with them, and treated his head like a golf ball._

* * *

"I looked in every place I could think of, and some of the more obscure. I couldn't see, no one I spoke to saw her..."

"Teal'c and I have looked everywhere as well. God knows where she is now."

Janet rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked up from the dashboard at Daniel, who was leaning against the window of her car. "I spoke to General Hammond, she hasn't been seen at the base either. I'm gonna look further afield. She may not even be in Springs by now. There are a few places out of town she may've gone to."

Teal'c voice could barely be heard over the noise of the traffic and people travelling along the main street they'd met at. "Perhaps she has travelled to the cabin."

"Maybe... and if I remember rightly," Daniel could see the cogs turning in Janet's head and felt the car bounce slightly as the petite woman slowly became more animated, "there's a pretty calm stretch of road on the way there she liked to ride down... dammit, why didn't I think of that before?!" She turned the key in the ignition so forcefully she almost broke it off. "I'll take the scenic route to the cabin. If I don't find her there, I'll call you."

Daniel moved back from the car door. "Good luck." He watched Janet pull off, just miss running a red light and disappear in the direction of the cabin. "C'mon Teal'c. There aren't many other places she could be."

* * *

She had no energy left at all. She hadn't even been able to hold the most basic of conversations with the woman before her before she started getting light-headed again. Besides the obvious reasons, she'd never been a fan of blood loss. The inability to focus was the most annoying thing. She wanted to talk to this woman. Ask her questions, answer hers but she found herself unable to string two words together.

Another dizzy spell caused her to sway and the older woman only just managed to catch her before her head hit the ground. The sudden rush of blood to the head was nice though. She managed to utter a "thanks" before shutting her eyes again, exhausted, only to open them a minute or so later when she heard sirens in the distance. She wanted to sit back up again but her muscles wouldn't comply. Resigned to having to be horizontal for a little while longer, she tried to turn to at least see the ambulance at it turned up. She ended up on her back with a quiet grunt and a wince and watched the ambulance pull up into view. Out of curiosity, she cast a sideways glance at the kid she saw in the back seat of the car. She didn't think he could be any flatter up against that back window.

Her gaze was brought back to the ambulance as two men in green appeared over her. The woman who'd stayed with her moved back slightly, and started swapping details with one of the paramedics. The other, a slightly chubby man with grey hair and a thick moustache loomed further into view. "Hey there, ma'am. Y'hear me?" She nodded slightly. "Excellent. My name's Paul, m'here to help. What's yours?"

She formed the words in her head, but her throat was so hoarse she couldn't get it out. Instead of trying again and making things worse, she simply reached up to her collar, turned her head slightly to the side and yanked out her dog tags for him.

Then she saw how wrong she'd been. The kid in the back seat was so close to forcing his face through the window.


	5. Blue Lights

A/N: Hey there people! Sorry it's taken so long to update, but real life got in the way somewhat. Work, family life and visitors have kept me busy, and will continue to do so for quite a few days yet, so it may be a while until the next chapter. Enjoy, anyhoo. )

* * *

Rounding another bend in the road, Janet was wondering what she'd say to Sam when she got to the cabin, if indeed that was were she was. Having known her for so long, Janet could normally read Sam like a book. There was only the odd occasion when things had slipped by her and much to Janet's annoyance, this was one of them. It had been a few weeks, and Sam had managed to convince them all she didn't need all the attention any more. Teal'c had acquiesced without much of a fuss, but you could tell he'd be watching her like a hawk from a distance. Daniel had taken far more reassurance, and still hadn't quite been able to stay away from his 'sister'. He would turn up with the occasional bag of groceries or film, and hang around to find out how she was doing.

Mind you, she hadn't been much better either. Janet had been able to keep a watchful eye on Sam, citing the occasional medically related reason. She'd tagged along on one of Daniel's visits more than once, making sure Sam was feeling as well as she'd let on. She was annoyed at herself that she didn't see through Sam's façade and didn't coax her into saying what was going on. 'Well, if I find her at the cabin, that'll be the first thing I do.'

She was trying to form the starters of said conversation in her head when she saw a dark black line appear on the road, and veer off into the verge. With a worried look, she slowed down slightly and followed the skid mark to a rather large gap in the bushes by the side of the road, and saw something glistening. Frowning, she pulled over, curiosity giving way to fear. Wandering over, she saw bits and pieces of broken vehicle strewn in the mud and some smaller bits caught in the remaining bushes. Following the trail of debris, she stopped dead when she saw the source. She'd recognise that bike anywhere. The amount of times she'd gone to Sam's lab only to see her and Siler tinkering with it, black oil smudges and massive grins all over the place had made her laugh, and then wonder how they got it down there in the first place.

She grabbed her phone, running haphazardly to what was left of the bike. "Daniel? Daniel, I found her bike. I want you to call as many hospitals in the area as you can and find her... the bike's in bits by the side of the road!" She started running further up the road to see if she could see Sam anywhere, Doctor mode kicking in. "She can't have gotten far on her own, I'm just hoping someone's found her. I'm gonna head up to the next town, see if she's there. Call me the second you find her Daniel."

She jumped back in the car and drove off, sticking her standalone flashing blue light on the dashboard just in case she found her friend on the way.

* * *

It was all a bit of a blur after being bundled into the ambulance. She vaguely overheard the woman who'd found her giving her details to one of the paramedics, and made a badly written mental note to get them and thank her as soon as she could. Then she felt hands almost everywhere, a trail of pain following each one and then after some uncomfortable moves, a sudden whoosh of air past her head as she was hoisted into the air and wheeled into the back of the van.

She definitely remembered those damn pen lights. High on almost pure oxygen and the pain of the new-found awareness that came with it, she cursed under her breath as she got temporarily blinded. Even more annoying was the fact that one of the doctors on the other end thought it necessary to do the same. She tried to catch the medical jargon that was thrown from the paramedics to the doctors as she was wheeled through a corridor with the cliché rectangular lights on the ceiling.

Instinctively upon hearing her name, she looked around as best she could, following it to the face of a young doctor who loomed into view, blocking the massive light above her head, much to her delight. "Sam? Can you hear me?" She nodded. "Excellent. We're just going to check you over, you need to let us know if anything really hurts, alright?" She nodded again, shutting her eyes as the light flooded her eyes. She felt the hands again, but this time they travelled around in a more organised fashion. She felt the slow release of pressure from around her leg and the hiss of air escaping as the inflatable splint was deflated to allow them access to her comparatively shocking patch up job. She gave a slight flinch and a hiss as a response to the searing pain in her leg, as broken bone ground against muscle, and focused on the medical jargon being thrown around the room. She heard some terms she recognised as surgical, and let out a small sigh. The doctor came back into view, her dog tags in hand.

"We've tried to reach the next of kin listed on your tags, Jack O'Neill? But we can't get hold of him." She rested the dog tags into Sam's hand, so as not to lose them, not missing the slight pained look on her patient's face at the mention of the name punched into the cool metal. "Is there someone else we can call?"

Sam coughed a little and swallowed hard, trying to lubricate her dry throat. Her words were muffled by her oxygen mask, and the young woman had to lean in to catch every word. "J.. Janet.. Doctor.. Janet... Fraiser."

"Doctor Janet Fraiser? Can you tell me her number?" Pulling her pen out of the top pocket of her white coat, she pulled her sleeve up, ready to scrawl the response on her hand.

"Number... uh..." She shut her eyes, trying to dreg up the number from her mind. When she couldn't pick Janet's phone number from the multitude of sequences from inside her muddled head, she tried another tactic. "A.. AF... Academy... Hos.. Ho..." She dissolved into a coughing fit, her dry throat getting the best of her. She jarred her shoulder, causing her to hiss with pain. The doctor put a hand on her shoulder, spouted some jargon to her colleagues and waited for Sam to catch her breath.

"The Air Force Academy Hospital?" Sam nodded in response. "Alright, we'll get hold of her via there. I'll get her here to help us help you, okay?" Sam gave her a slow nod, and the last thing she saw was the young doctor's sympathetic yet confident smile, before unconsciousness took hold.


End file.
